After that, hed never quite accepted her icy silence for what it was-a desperate cry for him to stay away, because she needed her distance.
Oh, boy, had she needed her distance. And she couldnt blame him for not really buying it. Hell, shed definitely, at least for that one moment, given him the wrong impression. Shed given herself the wrong impression, because shed wanted him-wanted his arms to come around her, wanted him to dip his head and kiss her, long and deep and wet as he slid his hands over her body, giving it the pleasure shed denied herself all year.
But shed come to her senses and hadnt let herself lapse again.
At least not publicly.
As the newcomer to the division, shed made a big effort to fit in, to get to know all her co-workers, while definitely staying clear of Hawk. Shed been aloof and stand-offish with him and him alone because shed thought it best for her to keep far away until she was ready for the feelings he evoked. Which she still wasnt.
That didnt mean she didnt care, because she did. Too much. Therein lay her problem.
From that salad-in-the-lap moment, Abby had taken one look at him, past the bad boy physique, past the knowing grin, and had known.
She could care too much for this man.
Now she sat in the van, with the night whipping around them, desperately visualizing Hawk checking in because she had to believe he was okay.
Please be okay.
Someones down, came Watkinss voice. Repeat, agent down.
Oh, God. Once upon a time, shed been the agent down, and just the words brought back the stark terror.
Dark room.
Chained to a wall.
Cold, then hot, then fear like nothing shed ever known when shed realized her captors wanted information she didnt have, and that they were going to torture her anyway
But this wasnt then. And what had happened to her wasnt happening now. Concentrate, damn it. Focus. Where is he?
The men behind her, Ken and Wayne, already in high alert from the equipment failure, worked more frantically, trying to get feed on him.
Watkins, she said. Clarify.
Nothing.
Thomas, are you with Watkins?
More of that horrifying nothing. Whipping around, she looked at the two men in disbelief. Are we down again?
Waynes fingers tapped across his keyboard. Fuck. Yes.
Was it possible for a heart to completely stop and yet pound at the same time? They need backup. She stood to yank off her blazer.
What are you doing? Ken demanded.
Getting ready. Abby tossed her useless headset aside.
No. Were not supposed to-
We have at least one man down and no radio. She slapped a vest over her shirt, and then grabbed a gun, emotion sitting heavy in her voice. No cool, calm and collected now. No, all that had gone right out the window with her last ounce of common sense, apparently. Were going in.
There was some scrambling, whether to join her or stop her she didnt know because she didnt look back as she opened the door to the van.
LOGAN BOLTED ACROSS THE ROOF of the barn, dodging the icy spots and the shadow hed seen. Not Gaines, but one of his paid goons, coming back from where hed last spotted Hawk.
He sped up, high-tailing his way toward Hawk, because thats what they did, they backed each other up. Theyd been doing so for years in far tighter jams than this one. And in all that time, hed never once felt anything but utterly invincible.
But at this moment, all he felt was terror.
Hawk was down.
Rounding a corner of the roof, Logan headed toward a vent. As he crouched down behind it to survey the situation, the air stirred, and he felt a blinding pain in the back of his neck. As he whipped around to fight, he was hit again, by a two-by-four, or so it felt, and then he was flying off the roof toward the ground.
Shit. Now both he and Hawk were down
THIS WAS RIDICULOUS, ABBY TOLD herself as the cold, icy night slapped her face. Shed taken herself out of the field. Shed vowed that nothing could get her back to it. And yet here she was, off and running at the first sign of trouble because she couldnt stand the thought of an agent down.
Ken caught up with her, both of them gasping in the shockingly bitter wind. They took the long, winding dirt path up toward the ranch. The place sat on a set of rolling hills that looked deceptively mild and beautiful by day. But by night the area turned almost sinister, steep, rugged and dangerously isolated. Fallen pine needles crunched beneath their feet. The patches of ice were lethal spots of menace that could send them flying, but still they ran.
The wind didnt help. It was picking up, if that was possible, slicing through to the very bone, kicking up a dusty haze that nothing could cut through, not even the night vision goggles.
When they reached the dark farmhouse, they stopped to draw air into their burning lungs.
When they reached the dark farmhouse, they stopped to draw air into their burning lungs.
Around the back, Ken said. The barns around the back.
She was already moving that way but came to a stop at the corner of the farmhouse, where she had the vantage point of what should have been a woodsy clearing, but with the dark and the driving winds, seemed more like the wilds of Siberia.
She knew the barn lay beyond the trees, but in between there were no lights, no sign of human life. Abby went left, Ken right, both skirting the edges of the clearing, using the trees as cover.
Where was everyone?
As she came through the woods, the barn loomed up ahead, nothing but a black outline against a black sky. And then she saw him.
Hawk.
He was standing, holding his gun pointed at someone standing in the door of the barn.
Abby watched in horror as the gun flashed, and she caught a glimpse of the man hed aimed at flying backward like a rag doll.
Gaines? Elliot Gaines? What the hell? Why was he here? Everything within her went cold. Had Hawk just shot Gaines?
3
WINNING WAS EVERYTHING. Knowing it, Gaines pushed down harder on Hawks windpipe, barely feeling the blood running down his arm. Hed been nicked before, a year and a half ago in Seattle as a matter of fact, while wrestling in the dark with one of his own ATF agents.
Hawk, in fact.
See, thats what happened when one hired the best, and Hawk was the best of the best. He was a fucking pitbull, and hed all but publicly promised to stop at nothing until the leader of the Kiddie Bombers was behind bars.
He might as well have signed his own death certificate.
And goddamn, hed actually gotten a shot off. That was a pisser. But the explosions Gainess men had rigged would go off soon, and Hawk would be lost in them. Logan also, because it had become clear tonight that there was no other way.
And though it killed him, Abby, too.
No loose ends.
And there wouldnt be. Thanks to his crew, which included Watkins working on the inside, everything had been perfectly choreographed. Already Tibbs would have received an anonymous tip that would raise enough questions about Hawks role in the theft of the rifles from the ATF to enable Tibbs to get a search warrant for Hawks place. There hed find a computer memory stick with Kiddie Bombers information, including purchases, sales and contacts, password-protected and encrypted just enough to make it look legit.
Hawk framed, check. Hawk dead, almost check.
And then, retirement time. Good times. The only thing that would have made tonight perfect would have been if he hadnt been forced to take out Abby. He regretted that, and hed miss her like hell, but he couldnt risk the rest of his life for a piece of tail, no matter how badly he wanted that piece.
He was so close now. Close enough to taste it. God, he loved to win. And tonight, he planned to win big. Got any last-minute prayers?
EVEN WITH HIS VEST, the after-effects of taking a slug in the chest were brutal. His muscles were spasming, his body twitching, and it was sheer agony to get his limbs to obey his mind. But Hawk managed to grab Gainess ankle and yank him to the ground, leveling the playing field, though not by much. Jesus, even his brain hurt, feeling as if itd been used as a pinball within his skull. Gathering his thoughts was an exercise in futility, but he had to fight off Gaines-then he caught the flicker from within the barn. Flames. Ah, shit, the whole thing was going to-
Blow.
The explosion knocked them both backward. The barn roof blew sky high, catching the grass in the clearing on fire, as well as the trees.
Surrounded. He was surrounded by unrelenting heat, scorching him both inside and out. Gaines came up on his knees, looking like death warmed over as he staggered to his feet, pointing his gun. Youre hard to kill.
So are you. Hawks gaze locked on the dark spot blooming out from the shoulder of Gainess jacket. Missed your black heart, unfortunately. I blame the hit to the chest. Threw me off.
The smoke rose from behind Gainess head, making it look like steam was coming out of his ears.
Its going to get worse, his own personal monster said.
It was true. If Gaines chose to shoot Hawk in the nuts, there was nothing he could do. His body was shit at the moment.
Gaines pointed the gun between Hawks eyes.
Go to hell, Hawk said.
Gaines grinned. Tell you what, Ill meet you there.
Hawks life flashed before his eyes. His parents, gone now, but so proud of him when theyd been alive. Special Forces, where hed had a good run-no, make that a great run-before moving to ATF.
Another great run.
Until now.
Maybe he should have added some more personal touches to his lifes canvas. A wife. Kids. But hed always figured there was plenty of time for that.
Helluva time to be wrong. Do it, he said, coughing from the smoke. And die.
Gaines laughed. You have no idea how right you are. Now give me your gun.
Hawk tossed it over, then attempted to keep breathing. Not easy when his chest was still on fire, and actual flames were leaping all around them. He had no idea why he was alive but just in case it didnt last, he kicked his foot out and again swiped Gainess legs from beneath him. They rolled, and he got two strong punches into his superiors gut before he lost the element of surprise and Gaines clocked him in the jaw, and then his ribs.
Unlike Tibbs, Gaines had no soft middle. He was built like a boxer, one who trained 24/7. On a good day, hed be a tough opponent in a fight, but tonight, with Hawk in agony, was not a good day. They fought dirty and hard, and the bitch of it was, Hawk had no idea what the hell had happened-why had Gaines come after him? He fisted his hands in Gainess shirt, and the material ripped, revealing